TV Review: TERRA NOVA 1.7, "Proof"
This was another ho-hum outing with a couple exceptions.
rating: 3.5
(special note: My DVR messed up last week and recorded an old episode of Top Gear instead of Terra Nova. I was finally able to watch it last night, and heres the review!) In this weeks episode, we learn that people enjoy fishing for huge fish from the top of high cliffs, hero worship isnt all its cracked up to be, the Sixers have more tech than one might expect, and one of the main characters may well need to be classified as too stupid to live. We start with the fishing, with Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang), and Jim (Jason OMara), firing bait with longbows. They then hook what looked like some sort of primitive marlin, though the CGI was too horrible to really judge. On the way back to the colony, they stumble across an old fire. Taylor reasons that it was probably set by Carter, the solider who theyd exiled a few episodes ago. It was nice to see a bit of continuity there. He sends Jim back to the colony and goes looking for Carter. Meantime, Maddy (Naoimi Scott), hears that a hero of hers, a writer/naturalist/geologist/etc, by the name of Ken Horton is coming to town. Hes been out gathering specimens and the like. Maddy meets him, but things are less than great, because he doesnt remember much of his past, and gets really basic things wrong when talking to her. He begins acting very strange, and soon she begins to wonder if hes an imposter. Zoe (Alana Mansour), is less convinced. She thinks the man is a vampire. This is somewhat funny. Eventually she gets the clever idea of testing his DNA. She has an envelope that was used by Horton to send a reply to a bit of fan mail she wrote him. She reasons that since the real Horton would have licked the envelope (like youd expect in the year 2149), his DNA would be on there still. Things become confusing for her when the DNA test comes back. As for Josh Too Stupid to Live Shannon, well, hes still determined to get his girlfriend from 2149 moved to Terra Nova. To that end he agrees to steal a large amount of drugs from the infirmary and give them to the Sixers, who claim they have a disease hitting them. He demands proof from them that theyll honor their agreement, and they show him that they can communicate with 2149 by hooking up a call between him and his girlfriend. Yes, they have that technology, as well as apparently having a hidden lumber mill, judging by the nicely hewn planks that make up their treehouse. This convinces him, and he begins the stupidest, most poorly executed burglary in history. First, he steals his mothers ID/access card (which is all he needs, because apparently fingerprint locks, DNA locks and retinal scans dont exist in the future like they do now), gets it copied, and then finds out it doesnt work. Naturally he figures the best thing to do is to shoot open the fridge where this stuff is kept. This is after he broke a window getting into the place to begin with. Because apparently Terra Nova, in addition to not locking up controlled substances, also dont have alarms. This was another ho-hum outing with a couple exceptions. First, Taylor continues to be the best, most interesting character on the show. Hes intense, hes got a fascinating moral code, and hes just really fascinating. His conversation with Carter alone was worth the price of admission for this episode. I was also very surprised that the Sixers have at least one element of tech that the colony doesnt have. That they can talk with the future gives their story a lot more potential. Im actually kind of looking forward to seeing what happens with them from here. I still dont really care for the show as a whole. I still think its very stupid and roll my eyes more often than not. However. I will say that with the plot revelation with the Sixers and with Taylor continuing to be such a compelling character, I do feel that theres more potential than I did in the last few episodes. Hopefully the show is starting to move in the right direction.